


The Calm Before The Storm

by Socially_inept_bean



Series: Reed900 oneshots [4]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Banter, Cuddling, Electrocution, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gavin Needs a Hug, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nines needs a hug, Not Beta Read, Panic Attacks, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swearing, Tasers, just hugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:41:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23880973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Socially_inept_bean/pseuds/Socially_inept_bean
Summary: The power at the station short circuits. You’d think in this day and age that wouldn’t happen anymore, but it does. Unfortunately, Nines has had some past difficulties with electrocution.Heed the tags! This is a lot heavier than my previous works!
Relationships: Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Series: Reed900 oneshots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706017
Comments: 4
Kudos: 136





	The Calm Before The Storm

**Author's Note:**

> This. It’s heavy. Be warned. Take care of yourself.

It’s a completely normal day at the station.

Well. For Nines. According to Gavin, it was ‘Rainy as fuck and too cold to do anything but fuck off and die’. In other words: a normal day.

Nines personally liked the weather. Sheets of rain poured from the skies, drenching anyone unfortunate enough to be caught outside. The clouds coated the entire sky, trapping the world in a perpetual state of darkness. Even at eleven in the morning, you couldn’t see past the sidewalk, due to both the blur of rain and the clouds. Only the occasionally mutter or particularly loud tap of a key, the rain drowned the silence. It filled Nines with a peculiar sense of calm.

They’d barely been at the station for two hours. Crime had conveniently paused itself for the weather, so work was slow. Nines had finished most of his reports, and gone over evidence with Gavin.

Nines glances over at his partner-  boyfriend . Nines glances over at his boyfriend, smiling at Gavin’s messy hair and scarred face. They’d only recently started showing their relationship in more public areas. Gavin hadn’t been ready for it yet, and Nines was perfectly content to wait. Not that that stopped them from kissing whenever possible at the station, but it felt like their relationship was finally fully out in the open.

With their now open relationship, Nines held a lot more sway in Gavin’s life. Gavin had agreed - reluctantly - to let his curls go at least somewhat untamed while at work. Still at a professional level, but also curly enough for Nines to play with and annoy the human detective. His heart fluttered ever so slightly as he stared at his boyfriend.

“What ya smilin’ ‘bout, tin can?” Gavin questioned, pulling Nines out of his reverie. “I know I look good, but you don’t have to stare and smile at me like I just saved you’re goddamn puppy from a fire.”

“You look nice today.” He raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I  always look good, thought you knew already.” 

“You do always look good. But you look especially good today.”

“Aw shucks, way to make a man blush,” Gavin deadpanned, staring right at the android as he was smiling softly at him with his cheek in one palm as he stared.

“I mean it. I’m glad you let your curls loose today.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

“And you love me back, terminator, now get to work. Just ‘cause crime stopped for the weather doesn’t mean it’s gonna stop for you to admire my fucked up face.” He looked pointedly at the terminal on Nines’ desk, which he had pulled away from to compliment Gavin.

“Your face isn’t fucked up.”

“Shut up and get to work.” Nines smiled again, shaking his head fondly, and placing a white hand on his terminal to continue the report he’d been filling out.

At exactly that moment, the lights flickered in the bullpen. Nines looked up from the screen, still interfacing with it, but not focused on it anymore.

“Must be the shitty weather,” Gavin said, shaking his head in exasperation. “We’ve got sentient androids but they can’t fix our fuckin’ electricity.” Nines smirked, going to look back at his report when the flickering stopped.

A few moments of peace passed.

Every light source in the station flickered for a long 7.3 seconds. Gavin frowned at that. Was it unusual for the lights to go for this long?

He got an answer, but not in the way he wanted.

A sharp knife seemed to embed itself into Nines’ wrist, racing up his arm and through his body. He recoiled harshly from the source, the terminal on his desk. Fear lanced through his mind, eyes distant. His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed.

The lights flickered for a long while. Longer than they ever normally did. Gavin’ eyes narrowed. Something in his gut told him something was about to go wrong.

That’s when all the lights flickered out for good, and Nines wrenched his hand away from his computer, a look of sheer panic crossed his face, and he collapsed to the floor.

Gavin shot up immediately. No one else seemed to have noticed, vague matters of annoyance floating through the bullpen. He saw a few other of the stations androids were staring blankly ahead, but none had collapsed like Nines had.

“Nines!? Nines, hey, asshole, what’s happening?!” He rushed to shake Nines from where he was on the floor by their desks. He barely registered heads snapping toward him, shouts suddenly filling the air as people ran to help.

Gavin shook his boyfriend’s shoulder, one hand on his cheek. He could hear his shaky breaths, a stark contrast to Nines’ completely still chest.

Panic raced through Gavin’ body, an all too familiar feeling, making his hands shake and his eyes blur with a liquid he didn’t want to think about. The only sign that the android was alive was the pulsing LED, which was spinning at a speed that perfectly portrayed the human’s own emotions, even though the sight of it sent a wave of relief through him.

“Gavin! What happened to him?!” Tina was suddenly kneeling beside him, trying to take in the situation.

“I-I dunno- I d-don’t- what’s- I-“

“Hey, I’m sure he’s fine, Gav, listen to me,” Tine cut off Gavin’s stuttered response with calm reassurances. “He’ll be okay. Chris went to get Connor, he’ll know exactly what to do. Until then, I need you to tell me what happened.”

“He- he just suddenly pulled back from his terminal and- and he collapsed- Tin- I don’t-“

“It’s okay,” the girl interrupted again. “It was probably a power surge. The other androids who were connected to something electrical rebooted. It’s probably just taking him a bit more time, right?”

“Why did he collapse? He wouldn’t have- I can’t-“ this time he cut himself off, not able to get any words out. He couldn’t breathe, his chest  hurt , everything hurt, he couldn’t- he couldn’t he couldn’t what’s going on-

“Gavin listen to me. Deep breaths.” Was he seriously having a panic attack at the station? What a fucking idiot- stupid- dumbass- can’t- what’s-

“Gavin. Deep breaths. Look at me.” He tried, he tried to look up but everything was blurring together, it was dark, he couldn’t see- he couldn’t breathe- he couldn’t he couldn’t he  couldn’t \-  _ Nines needed him- fucking idiot- who- both- no- just him- never Nines - _

Nines was in a house. Old and decrepit, every board creaked with the slightest breeze.

They weren’t expecting the killer to still be in the house.

They weren’t expecting her to have a taser. 

They weren’t expecting her to have enhanced the power.

They weren’t expecting her to use it.

Nines writhed on the splintered and dusty floor, pain coursing through him. All he knew at that moment was his processor stuttering, flashing errors across his vision which was starting to fill with a lubricant not meant to be used for the purpose of emotions-

Another shock, a wave of pain through him. He vaguely registered an interaction in front of him, but he might’ve been hallucinating from the pain. Liquid of two kinds flowed down his face. His artificial muscles spasmed, hitting  _ something _ -

Several short bursts, not quite as painful but over and over and over and over and he only barely noticed the bright red bar at the top of his HUD completely filled upand please please please stop what’s happening Gavin where’s Gavin please help no no  _no_ _n_ O _no ~~p~~ L_ **e** _a ~~s~~ e sto ~~p~~ whe_ ~~r~~ _e’s **G** a ~~v~~ in-_

“Gavin!” A shout pulled him out of his mind for just a second. He swallowed harshly, bringing a sleeved hand up to rub the tears from his eyes. He blinked roughly, seeing Tina’s form on the ground next to him.

“That’s it, breathe with me.” She motioned with her hand in front of her chest , taking an exaggerated breath. He tried to follow the example, but couldn’t get far- couldn’t- he couldn’t-

“That’s okay, keep trying.” He took another breath, shaky and gasping, but choked it back out. After several more attempts, he finally got his breathing under some guise of control. It took all his will to keep it up as he looked around. He was hunched over against his and Nines’ desk.

“Nines?” He gasped out, looking around frantically.

“To your left,” Tina informed, gesturing over. Nines was lying on his back next to Gavin on the floor. Connor was needing next to his twitching and spasm if brother, white hand on Nines’, eyes closed in frustration.

“I can’t get to him,” the android muttered, opening his eyes. “I don’t know what’s happening in there, but whatever it is, he’s panicking so much he doesn’t recognize me.” Connor looked so lost at the idea of not being able to help.

Gavin scooted over to sit closer to his boyfriend. “You fucking goddamn plastic fucking prick,” he muttered furiously at Nines. He pulled himself over to cup the android’s face, bringing their foreheads together.

“What are you doing?” Tina questioned. Connor stood up and sped his way to the break room, where a rustle quickly followed. “You need to rest.”

“He needs me. It worked last time,” he responded vaguely. “God, Nines, whatever’s going on in that head of yours, come back to me you fucking jackass. Come on. Nines?”

“Nines?” A voice cut through the haze of pain. He didn’t know where he was anymore. Somewhere in his mind he was sure that the encounter hadn’t gone on this long at the scene, but the rest of his mind didn’t care-

Another wave of pain, his back arched, lightning darted through him and it hurt and please stop what’s happening-

A pressure burst through on his cheek, warm and soft-

His head hit something, a loud crash made him flinch in the midst of his pain and writhing something blue stained his shirt and his hands and please where’s Gavin is _that hi_ m _ **p** le_ **a** _ ~~s~~ e Gavin-_

“-Gavin. It’s me, babe, it’s Gavin, listen to me Nines, I need you to come back to me. Force in my life that I can’t life without, remember?” Nines had stilled considerably, only slightly twitches still breaking through.

Suddenly his eyes burst open, gasping, and he shot up, pushing Gavin away. He had a panicked, wild look as he pushed himself upright and away from the two humans on the floor.

“Hey! Nines, you’re back! remember me? Gavin?” The sudden shift from dead still- not dead, don’t use that analogy- completely still and silent to heaven breaths and trembling made Gavin pause for a second in shock. Nines still needed him.

“I- yeah. Gavin what- what happened?” His partner’s ragged breath quickly evened out, LED cycling to a shaky yellow, and he cautiously allowed Gavin to pull him back over next to him.

“Power surge. What happened to you?” Nines blinked, and tried to push himself into a standing position. Gavin promptly pulled him back down to sit back next to him, pushed against the side of their desks. “No, stay down,” he demanded. He allowed it, scanning the crowd watching them in concern.

When Tina waved at them in annoyance, they quickly went back to what they were doing. Gavin noticed all of the station androids were fine, watching in sympathy before returning to work.

“Re-. . . remember the Trent Bruman case?” He nodded. Of course he remembered. The android had been hiding in the closet. As soon as Nines opened the door to look inside, she jumped out and. . .

“Oh my fucking god, are you okay?!” Nines sighed, rubbing his pump regulator protectively, one of the places he’d been tased that night. 

“Of course. The shock from the power surge just brought up the memory.”

“Don’t just tell me you’re  _ fuckin’ okay _ _!_ What, you had to live through that again?” Nines looked down, taking one of Gavin’s hands in his and pulling it into his lap. The human suspected it was more to comfort the android than him, but he didn’t mind the contact in the slightest.

“Yes, I did. But you pulled me out of it. Again.” Gavin calmed, and smirked.

“What can’t I say? I have a certain talent for pulling you out of your own head.” The android nodded exhaustedly.

“I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“What?”

“I assure you it won’t happen again?”

“You don’t have to assure anyone that it won’t happen again because it’s fuckin’  _ fine _ .” Nines frowned, and sighed. “Are you really ok?”

“Yes. It’s just- in the moment, it was. . .”

“Shocking?” Nines glared, shoving Gavin’s shoulder, who smiled. He’d expected that. “What, too soon?”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.” The android rolled his eyes.

“What about the other androids?”

“Tina said they just rebooted. They should all be fine now.”

“What about Connor?“

“I think he was down in the archives, so he was fine. You’d have to ask Chris though. Connor tried to help, but you were so caught up in your flashback that he couldn’t get to you.” Nines frowned again.

“He must be feeling quite upset by that.” Gavin nodded sadly. He wasn’t the best of buddies with Connor, but he and Nines were basically brothers, even called each other that, so they  were getting considerably closer. “What happened to you?”

“Had an attack. Haven’t had one that bad in a while. I’ll have to ask Tina how long I was gone when I see her again,” he said, realizing Tina had left at some point during their conversation.

“Why are you asking me if  I’m okay, then?” He shrugged. Gavin wasn’t the kind of guy to make a big deal out of something. Attention was the enemy.

“Did you expect anything less from me?”

He sighed. “No, I didn’t.” Connor appeared from around the desk, holding two mugs, one with steam rising from it. He set both of them on the ground next to Nines silently, and turned to walk away.

“Hey. I heard you tried to help me while I was out.” The RK800 stopped, staring at the ground with a defeated look in his brown eyes, shoulders sagging. “You know it’s not your fault. That you couldn’t get me out?” Connor bit his lip, and nodded.

“I know. I just. . . I worry for you, Nines.” The younger android smiled, reaching out with his free hand to take Connor’s and give it a light squeeze.

“I worry for you too, Connor. But I’m alright now.” The older android gave a small smile, squeezing the hand back, and letting it drop back down.

“I brought you warm thirium, just the way you like it. And hot chocolate for Gavin. I didn’t think coffee was a good idea.” Gavin rolled his eyes, but Nines laughed lightly.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I’ve got to get back to work. You two get some rest. Captain Fowler is fine with you going home for the day.”

“No, we can just rest here. We still have work to do.” Connor shook his head.

“Please get some rest. Love you, little brother.”

“We will. Love you too, big brother.” The two brothers smiled warmly at each other one last time, before the older one walked back to his desk with Hank.

“God, will you two ever get more sappy?”

“No, we won’t. Here’s you’re drink.” He carefully handed the warm mug to Gavin, and took his own after.

They sat in loving silence, letting the chatter of the bullpen surround them, hand in hand. When they’d finished their drinks, Gavin laid a head on Nines’ shoulder tiredly.

“Do you want to go take a nap in break room two?”

“Electric boogaloo?” Nines rolled his eyes. The human nodded into the RK900’s jacket. Which he was realizing now was actually one of _his_ jackets that the android had stolen a few days back.

Nines carefully slipped his arms under Gavin, carrying him into the second break room. It was an old room, meant for meetings initially, but the station didn’t need two meeting rooms, so they’d turned it into a break-ier break room.

There was a couch and two bean bags, and a window over the latter. There was a table in the center, with a few chairs around it, and a counter and cupboards for snacks and drinks. That was probably where Connor had gotten the hot chocolate from.

He set Gavin down on the edge of the couch, where he stretched with a yawn. The android lied down next to him, facing away from the window above it. Gavin lies down against his boyfriend’s chest, curling into his warmth. He closed his eyes, and an arm wrapped around him, pulling him closer. They quickly drifted off to the sound of rain pounding against the concrete outside.

Connor walked into the second break room to wash and put away the couple’s mugs. When he walked in and saw the two curled up together on the couch. . .

He might’ve taken a picture. He couldn’t help it. He loved his brother and soon to be brother-in-law too much.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve thankfully never had a panic attack before, so this isn’t from experience. 
> 
> How would you guys feel if I told you I had a couple longer fics in the works, one of which the first chapter is ready to be posted. I’m excited for it. It’s about a Connor model from testing before the Daniel field test. I love my new OC and he’s my feral anxiety ridden son now. 
> 
> I also have one centering around Gavin and Nines, and what Nines would do if Gavin was gone. Dead? Maybe. But most definitely gone for an indefinite amount of time.
> 
> I’m in the Octopunks server and Detroit: New Era server!  
> Here’s the link if you want to come chat in the New Era! https://discord.gg/DrpA3Z
> 
> I’ll take suggestions/prompts/requests! No promise I’ll get to it, but if you want to see it written in my weird style, go ahead!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed reading! This one was a lot longer than I anticipated.


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